House prices at peak, says Hawke's Bay property broker

Property Brokers Hawke's Bay manager Paul Whitaker says the coming summer could see house prices flatten in the region.

The property market is at its peak, says Property Brokers Hawke's Bay manager Paul Whitaker.

He said while prices were strong and demand high, he could see an end to the market surge as the number listings increase and prices flatten.

"I think we are at the height of it right now," he said.

"If you are looking at selling you need to consider interest rates have bottomed out, investors have been hit with deposit restriction and more stock is coming on to the market. All three factors will make it soften a little bit.

"I personally think if you are thinking of selling and you want to get out you should do it now because after Christmas it could be too late.

"We are still seeing fierce competition but we expect it to taper off, rather than continue to rise."

According to REINZ figures real estate sales volumes fell 9 per cent in October compared with September.

Compared with October last year sales volumes fell 17 per cent, with Napier falling 9 per cent, Hastings 22 per cent and Dannevirke 14 per cent.

The falling volume exacerbated monthly variations - urban Hastings' median price fell from $330,000 in September to $280,000 in October while Napier's rose from $332,500 to $381,250.

The median price for the region rose $17,750 in October compared with the same period last year.

The median days to sell remained at 30 days from September, six days fewer than October last year. The 10-year median is 43 days.

Tremain Real Estate managing director Simon Tremain said while he agreed interest rates were "as low as they are ever going to be" the price surge had good momentum.

"As far as investors go the 40 per cent equity rule has curbed the market a little bit but we still have lots of activity in the market with good outside interest.

"This market isn't overheated - our volumes are still below what they were in the mid-2000s and constantly we are hearing of people leaving Auckland moving down to Hawke's Bay.

"Now is a really good time to sell but I think the market has room to continue moving next year."

The national median price was up 10.9 per cent per cent year-on-year to $510,000, down 1 per cent from September 2016.

Auckland continued its run, being one of four regions to hit record October median sale prices with $868,000, a 16 per cent year-on-year lift of $119,750.

The three other regions with record median sale prices in October were Northland at $399,000, Waikato/Bay of Plenty $460,750 and Southland $225,000.

The number of national sales for October 2016 was 6727, a fall of 9 per cent from September.